RouteOne and DealerTrack are certainly not strangers to the auto industry, but that does not mean every dealer knows all the ins and outs of the Web-based credit application management systems.

Todd Anderson, financial manager at Holland, Mich. based Elhart Dodge Nissan Hyundai, uses both DealerTrack and RouteOne, but no specific features or updates stand out to him; he is “just using them to send in applications.”

Anderson is certainly not the only financial manager to use the systems just for credit application purposes; however, other functionality certainly exists.

DealerTrack

One of the most important products DealerTrack offers is its compliance suite, says David Trinder, senior vice president of network solutions at DealerTrack. A Red Flags Rule solution was added to the suite earlier this year.

“Every single dealership needs to show they are Red Flags ready,” Trinder says, noting that this includes not only going through certain actions but also putting a policy into place. “We show them what a policy should look like.”

Dealers realize the tool’s importance too; the compliance suite is one of DealerTrack’s fastest-selling items.

One dealership utilizing the tool is the Luther Automotive Group.

The St. Louis Park, Minn.-based dealership group is still rolling out the Red-Flag solution, but already it is proving valuable, says Duane Brinkman, director of compliance. “At this point in time, we are pleased,” he says.

What Brinkman would like to see from the tool is not finance- transactions flags, but flags for other transactions, too. An addition of a note section would also be beneficial, he adds.

Real-time market pricing for InventoryPro is one of DealerTrack’s latest updates, which allows dealers to see how local competitors price their vehicles. The product lets dealers “look at a vehicle and see what it is selling for at the auction,” Trinder says.

Bill McMorris, director of remarketing at Jim Ellis Volkswagen of Atlanta, applauds InventoryPro, especially its real-time functionality. The tool gives the several dealerships in Jim Ellis Volkswagen a “tremendous advantage” by helping them determine how to price their vehicles. In particular, it really helps with their online car stock, he says, noting this is because 80 percent of the people shopping the Internet for vehicles search by lowest price. Using InventoryPro allows Jim Ellis to price their vehicles accordingly so they can come up on top of a Web search. McMorris says DealerTrack is great at incorporating customer feedback into its product, too. “They really do listen,” he says. “They follow up on what they say they are going to do.”

RouteOne

RouteOne rolled out its version 8.9 release last September. Among the enhancements is the addition of Kelley Blue Book vehicle values in the United States. RouteOne also added Payoff Quote, which allows dealers to request a payoff with their lenders. Dealers can use the tool only with lenders who sign up for it.

“Payoff Quote would be spectacular if all lenders were on there,” says Tom King, finance manager at Ray Laethem Pontiac Buick GMC. King doesn’t think it is possible to get all banks to do this from what he understands.

Although the Detroit-based dealership mostly taps RouteOne for credit bureau information, it also utilizes some of its other features, like Adverse Action. Adverse Action allows dealers to search for applications that may require Adverse Action notices, and then automatically creates those notices. When a customer is turned down for credit, King says Adverse Action helps deal with the ensuing compliance issues.

King would like to see RouteOne offer a lease linking tool, but is happy with the service overall. “RouteOne is the only place you can get captive finance with everything else,” he says.

In particular, King likes how interactive RouteOne is with its customers. RouteOne asks for feedback, and reacts to it well, he says. “This is how they are distancing themselves,” he says.

Orlando, Fla.-based Greenway Ford is using eContracting. David Stone, director of finance, says one of the biggest benefits of eContracting is its electronic funding feature, because eFunding, as it is called, “probably saves us funding.”

Stone says Greenway Ford works with both Ford Motor Credit Co. and RouteOne to try to discover any errors in the application process, before the mistakes prevent funding.

Stone says he sees recent improvement in the RouteOne product. RouteOne is working on adding new features to and refining its platform. In October, the company launched an identity-verification product. Says Rogers: “Identity theft is so big.”

The tool, devised with TransUnion’s help, will help dealers comply with the new FACT Act Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. This rule mandates that financial institutions and creditors establish written, identity-theft-prevention programs.

The ID tool itself provides warnings of potential fraud by generating a score on whether or not a customer is “high risk.” Then, it generates out-of-wallet questions for triggered applicants, asking questions such as “What street did you grow up on?”